Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Reassuringly calm? Self-reported patterns of responses to reassurance seeking in obsessive compulsive disorder
Section snippets
Self-report measures
Reassurance-Seeking Questionnaire (ReSQ: Kobori & Salkovskis, 2013). This questionnaire has four different scales and a separate section designed to assess emotional reactions.
- 1.
Probability: This section enquires how frequently participants seek reassurance, consisting of 22 items and five subscales: ‘Involving Other People in Reassurance’, ‘Professionals’, ‘Direct Seeking from People’, ‘Self-Reassurance’, and ‘External References’.
- 2.
Trust: This section is about how much participants trust a range
Overview
The main analysis is in two sections. Firstly, the perceived effectiveness of reassurance in terms of rated emotional reactions reported following reassurance seeking and good/unsatisfactory provision were analysed using a mixed model ANOVA in order to evaluate how each group of participants reported reacting when they were not able to obtain reassurance at all, and when they receive reassurance in the short-term and in the long-term.
Group comparison of ratings of effectiveness of reassurance and emotional changes
In the first comparison, the degree to which reassurance had
Discussion
The present study was conducted in order to characterise the reactions of people with OCD and make a comparison with both non-OCD anxious and healthy groups to situations involving the seeking and giving of reassurance. Three different situations were evaluated; immediately after the person from whom reassurance is sought provides it (short-term) and 20 min or more after they receive reassurance (long-term); the third comparison refers to when the person fails to offer reassurance (no
Conflict of interest statement
Neither author has any conflicts of interest to declare in relation to this work and manuscript.
References (15)
Extinctions of ruminations: a case study
Behavior Therapy
(1974)- et al.
A qualitative study of the investigation of reassurance seeking in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
(2012) - et al.
Spontaneous decay of compulsive urges
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(1976) Cognitive-behavioural factors and the persistence of intrusive thoughts in obsessional problems
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(1989)- et al.
Morbid preoccupations, health anxiety and reassurance: a cognitive-behavioural approach to hypochondriasis
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(1986) - et al.
Responsibility, attitudes, and interpretations are characteristic of obsessive compulsive disorder
Behaviour Research and Therapy
(2000) - et al.
Reliability of the structured clinical interview for DSM–III–R: an evaluative review
Comprehensive Psychiatry
(1994)
Cited by (23)
Is everything really okay?: Using ecological momentary assessment to evaluate daily co-fluctuations in anxiety and reassurance seeking
2023, Behaviour Research and TherapyReassurance and its alternatives: Overview and cognitive behavioural conceptualisation
2023, Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersDifferent cognitive behavioural processes underpinning reassurance seeking in depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder
2022, Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental PsychiatryCitation Excerpt :For this reason, many people will have experienced reassurance seeking as a helpful behaviour in their day to day lives (Salkovskis & Kobori, 2015). It is typically viewed as a helpful strategy for friends, family and health care professionals to offer reassurance when someone is anxious (Salkovskis & Kobori, 2015). However, recent research has implicated excessive reassurance-seeking (ERS) in perpetuating emotional distress and interpersonal difficulties (Halldorsson & Salkovskis, 2017; Parrish & Radomsky, 2010).
Online reassurance-seeking and relationships with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, shame, and fear of self
2022, Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related DisordersCitation Excerpt :Individuals with OCD have reported engaging in more frequent reassurance-seeking compared to those with anxiety disorders or depression (Haciomeroglu & Inozu, 2019; Morillo, Belloch, & García-Soriano, 2007). They have also reported stronger urges to seek reassurance and more persistent reassurance-seeking relative to other anxious groups, perhaps due to more rigid requirements (e.g., needing to seek reassurance until it feels “just right”; Haciomeroglu & Inozu, 2019; Kobori, Salkovskis, Read, Lounes, & Wong, 2012; Salkovskis & Kobori, 2015). The temporary relief associated with this strategy leads it to be used repeatedly and to play a role in maintaining obsessive-compulsive symptomatology.
Excessive reassurance seeking in depression versus obsessive-compulsive disorder: Cross-sectional and cognitive behavioural therapy treatment comparisons
2020, Journal of Anxiety DisordersCitation Excerpt :Cross-sectionally, the severity of OCD symptoms has been significantly associated with higher levels of ERS (Orr, McCabe, McKinnon, Rector, & Ornstein, 2018; Starcevic et al., 2012). ERS may serve to strengthen the OCD symptom cycle by acting as a form of compulsive checking in response to anxiety related to intrusive thoughts and appraisals (Parrish & Radomsky, 2010; Rachman, 2002; Salkovskis and Kobori, 2015). While ERS has been hypothesized as an important maintenance factor in both depression (Evraire & Dozois, 2011) and OCD (Salkovskis, 1996), only in the latter has it been explicitly targeted for reduction.
- 1
Now at Department of Psychology, University of Swansea, UK.